The FIFA World Cup 2026 is just around the corner, and with the upcoming draw for the world’s biggest sporting event on the horizon, soccer’s governing body, FIFA, is ruffling some feathers.
The controversial World Cup, hosted in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, in a tumultuous political landscape has already been criticized for pricing out fans with dynamic pricing, official resale platforms with no cap on ticketing prices, and a focus on purchasing special passes to get early access to seats.
Technology isn’t always a good thing
VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is one of the most controversial topics in the world of soccer (I’m going to call it football from here on out) because while it gives human referees an insight into what happens on the field, it has led to long moments of stoppage in a frantic sport that relies on its intensity.
Not only that, but VAR is often in the spotlight due to human errors leading to bad decisions, essentially leaving fans asking the question, “Is the sport better without a video referee?”
That’s why the addition of VAR at corners using new AI ball technology (I’ll get to this shortly) can’t be seen as a positive, unless it goes perfectly smoothly during the competition, so it doesn’t hinder the spectacle.
The thing is, football fans have lost trust in VAR, so the idea of adding more of the technology is widely seen as a net negative. Corners, fouls, goals, offsides, the lot is now covered by VAR, and while that would be a good thing if it were fast and always accurate, unfortunately, it just isn’t.
According to BBC Sport, “At an October meeting of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) – which determines the laws of the game – there was agreement that VAR could be expanded to cover incorrectly shown second yellow cards that lead to a red.”
“But FIFA’s proposal to review corners was rejected, meaning world football’s governing body will need to effectively create a trial to use it in the United States, Mexico, and Canada next summer.”
Because of the way football works, referees aren’t allowed to change a decision once they’ve made a call, and the game is back underway. That means, with this new VAR implementation, every single corner at the World Cup will need to be reviewed, and while FIFA believes it has the resources to handle such an inclusion, I’ve not seen enough evidence to believe that football’s governing body does.
Fans don’t want it
After the reports started to surface over the inclusion of VAR for corner kicks, social media was flooded with football fans from around the world voicing their disdain for the decision.
One Reddit user said, “This makes absolutely no sense.” While another added, “I swear football keeps implementing dumb rules.”
My favorite comment, however, is this one: “Midnight (in Europe) kickoffs might not finish till 5am at this rate!” This showcases the lack of trust fans have in referees to make efficient decisions without wasting long periods of time.
Earlier this year, an FA Cup game between Bournemouth and Wolves had an eight-minute VAR decision… Now just imagine the potential mess if VAR corner analysis isn’t excellently optimized.
It’s all in the ball
To be able to efficiently determine the outcome of corners with VAR, FIFA has implemented a new AI-powered ball for the World Cup, albeit not solely for the purpose of tracking corner kicks.
The new ball, called Trionda, is made by Adidas with an AI chip that constantly tracks movement and sends live data to officials. The idea is to help referees make quicker decisions, especially during the chaotic moments where incidents often get missed. Adidas says the “connected ball technology” will help officials make quicker decisions with real-time data sent to VAR alongside player position data.
On paper, it sounds like a neat upgrade: With AI in the ball, VAR gets more information when bodies are flying everywhere. It might even make decisions feel cleaner and stop forwards from being rugby tackled at every set piece.
But here’s the problem: if you already hate how much VAR interrupts the flow of a match, this isn’t going to help.
Football only just survived the era of toenail offsides, and now we’re heading into a World Cup where an AI chip inside the ball could trigger even more delays because it thinks something looks a bit suspicious. FIFA says it’s all about fairness, but fans are already tired of the sport feeling like a science project.
There’s also the bigger question of whether this actually improves the spectacle. Technology keeps creeping deeper into football, and every layer seems to hand VAR more control. If the ball starts sending automatic alerts during corners, momentum will die every time someone gets nudged at the near post.
The Trionda will still look and feel like a normal match ball, and Adidas insists it performs the same as previous models. While that’s good news for the players hoping to avoid the 2010 Jabulani debacle, for fans this feels like another step toward a version of football where every big moment goes through a digital filter before it counts.
AI in the ball might tidy up some decisions, but it also risks turning corners into forensic investigations. And if you already think VAR has taken too much out of the game, I have a feeling the World Cup 2026 is going to make it even more evident.
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